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CNN Live Saturday

Quake in Pakistan; Mudslides in Maya; Avian Flu in Turkey

Aired October 08, 2005 - 17:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: A devastating earthquake hits southern Asia. Rescue workers are racing to find survivors in the rubble. More of this exclusive video as the quake hit straight ahead.
And New York subway terror scare. Were commuters misled by all the mixed messages? Where does the alert stand today?

And high school football, more than just a game for many Gulf Coast players after Katrina. One lineman's fighting spirit straight ahead.

It is October 8th, and you're watching CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin. Two disasters affect millions from Pakistan to Guatemala tonight. And more cases avian flu spreading worry of a future pandemic. Next, CNN has all the coverage of these top stories for you.

In southern Asia, for example, rescue workers search for survivors after a 7.6 earthquake. Thousands may be dead. CNN Satinder Bindra is there.

In Guatemala, entire towns under tons of mud, hundreds are dead and the scene is grim.

And has the avian flu spread to Europe? A new discovery has scientists worried, and we now hear the U.S. is not ready for an outbreak here.

Up first, the earthquake in South Asia, it struck this morning, spreading devastation across an area touching Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, but the worst is in Pakistan, and the earth has not stopped shaking there. Another aftershock was felt in the region in the last hour.

Meanwhile, frantic efforts are under way to reach those still breathing underneath the rubble. CNN senior international correspondent Satinder Bindra is in Islamabad.

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): It was 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning when the first tremors were felt here in Islamabad, and this is what happened.

This eyewitness video was captured on a cell phone and it shows an entire apartment complex collapsing in Islamabad. Several people started screaming and shouting, not knowing what to do, they were very confused. But within literally an hour or so of this apartment complex collapsing, a large rescue and relief operation was launched, several large machines were brought here, earth-moving equipment was brought here; the rescue and relief operation was hampered for a short while by bad weather, heavy winds and rain.

But shortly after the heavy winds and rains cleared, rescue workers managed to drill at least four to five tunnels inside this building complex. They are hearing voices from inside and they are still confident of finding survivors.

Just north of the capital Islamabad where this earthquake was epicentered, the damage is believed to be much more extensive. The Pakistani Army has been flying relief missions, flying helicopters, to move out the injured people from some of the worst affected areas. Officials are already warning that entire villages could have been wiped out just north of Islamabad. And everyone here in this region is expecting the casualty count to continue to rise.

Satinder Bindra, CNN, Islamabad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Well, Pakistan's military spokesman says this is the largest relief operation the country has ever mobilized. And Pakistan's prime minister is calling the earthquake a major catastrophe. He spoke with us by phone early today.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SHAUKAT AZIZ, PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER: There is widespread damage in the northern parts of Pakistan, which, very hilly and snowbound in the winter. We are getting reports of a lot of casualties, many houses have collapsed, and relief work has started. The government and the various arms of the government have all gelled together. We move very fast. We've been at it since morning.

The government, the armed forces, the police, everybody's evacuating people, the casualties are in the hundreds, and may cross into the thousands. So we will have a better idea in the next 24 hours. I have toured the area, so has the president, and we have seen aerial views of what's going on. This is a severe earthquake.

And in the city of Islamabad where I'm speaking to you from, one apartment building collapsed. We have several here. One collapsed, and that is now being -- we are evacuating people from there and we have people stuck in the rubble. But it's a major catastrophe, but we are hanging in there and relief efforts started minutes after the incident happened.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LIN: He is right. Countries around the world are scrambling to help with the quake relief effort. The U.S. Agency for International Development is giving $100,000 in emergency relief funds to Pakistan. And the U.S. military is offering its help. Also, dozens of British disaster response workers are heading to the quake region, and Great Britain is also sending money, about $167,000 for now. Turkey is sending 30 planes with medical teams. Japan is providing rescue experts and equipment. Germany is giving $67,000 for First Aid. And the United Nations is on standby to send disaster and coordination teams to the region.

Also, if you'd like to help the earthquake relief effort, please call UNICEF, the number is 1-800-4unicef, or all you have to do is click on unicef.org. And of course, we're going to be giving you this information several times during this hour in case you missed it.

In the meantime, we want to move on to the disaster in Guatemala. There are fears a town of 800 people have been wiped off the map by a giant landslide. The avalanche of mud and trees was triggered by Hurricane Stan and seasonal heavy rains. Bad weather is still hampering search and recovery efforts.

CNN's Harris Whitbeck is now on the phone with the very latest.

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol. Rescue workers have reached the site of the mudslide, Panabaj, a small Indian village on the shores of Lake Atitlan, in the Guatemalan highlands. As you said, they confirmed that the town was completely wiped out by a mudslide. The Guatemalan president, Oscar Berger, flew over that area, and he is quoted as having said that he had never seen anything like that.

The disaster in Guatemala continues to unfold, and its dimensions continue to increase as the days go by. It started raining here a week ago, and it's only now that some rescue workers have been able to reach the affected areas because of the heavy rains, mudslides that have cut off communication with many of the villages that were affected and because of a lack of telecommunications.

The U.S. military has Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters in the region, and even those helicopters are not -- are having difficulty flying in the area because of the weather.

Again, the fear is that the death toll in this particular town of Panabaj could increase, and that the toll could increase in other areas as people reach them -- Carol.

LIN: Harris, we're taking a look at some of the pictures out of the region that just came in to the CNN Center. Give us an idea of who are the people who live in this region. They look extremely poor.

WHITBECK: Well, they are mostly Mayan Indians in the area around Lake Atitlan. They are Tz'utujil Indians who basically live from cash crops, you know, subsistence level cash crops. They also live off of the lake. Many of these communities are very small, very isolated. And in many of these communities, people don't even speak Spanish. As you know, Guatemala has 23 different Indian languages, and some of these places are extremely isolated..

LIN: A desperate rescue effort going on right now. Harris Whitbeck, reporting live on the phone from Guatemala City. Thank you very much. Turning now to bird flu fears. Turkey is dealing with an outbreak of the disease. The country's agriculture minister says about 1,800 birds died after avian flu was detected at a farm in western Turkey. Now, it's not clear how many actually have the disease, and how many were killed as precaution. The farm is next to a sanctuary for birds that fly to and from Asia, Africa and Europe.

Now, back in this country, the government is preparing for a potential disaster, a bird flu strain that could mutate enough to start spreading easily among people. But an advance look at the draft plan on how to respond to something like that shows many gaps.

CNN's Kathleen Koch reports now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The draft U.S. plan to handle a massive pandemic warns if there were an outbreak in Asia it would reach the U.S. in a few months or even weeks. The plan obtained by The New York Times and confirmed by CNN says, under the worst case scenario more than 1.9 million Americans would die, that hospitals would be overwhelmed, riots break out at vaccination clinics. Worse, some say, than the chaos after Hurricane Katrina.

MIKE LEAVITT, HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: We could be battling 5,000 different fronts at the same moment.

KOCH: The plan calls for ramping up vaccine production to 10 times the current output. The president met with vaccine makers Friday. But experts say such an increase isn't likely unless the federal government itself on a yearly basis buys vaccines and ensures manufacturers a profit.

LAURIE GARRETT, AUTHOR, "THE COMING PLAGUE": Some countries already do that. And that pretty much guarantees that they always have a certain level of vaccine supply. Our country has not historically done that. And we have a very mixed up mechanism for distribution of flu vaccine, because we don't have a national health system.

KOCH: The plan suggests more states pass laws permitting quarantine of affected areas, as Virginia has done. That state's pandemic flu plan, in place since 2002, includes new sophisticated labs for testing deadly pathogens and regular meetings with community leaders on how to respond.

DR. LISA KAPLOWITZ, VIRGINIA DEPT. OF HEALTH: How are businesses going to continue if a quarter of their workforce is ill at any one time? How are we going to maintain essential services? How are we going to be sure that we have police and fire services? We don't have all the answers.

KOCH: Six Democratic senators sent a letter to the Bush administration expressing concern the government is, quote, "ill- prepared to respond to this looming crisis," and asking why the U.S. is so far behind other nations. (on camera): The plan cannot control the actions of other countries, who the U.S. must rely on to accurately report bird flu outbreaks, especially if the disease morphs into a form transmissible by humans. Officials say the U.S. response plan will be completed later this month.

Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: So what happens? Well, the U.S. military would likely play an active role in the event of a pandemic. Commanders are already looking into how troops would operate during such a scenario. Now one major task would be to send in medicines and equipment. But one senior U.S. military official tells CNN war games have shown military medical capacity would be overrun in a large pandemic.

All right. Moving on to what is at stake for the president. Defending his choice today, President Bush takes to the airways to once again tout his latest choice for the highest court in the land. Can he win over the Senate with today's efforts?

Also, women on the front lines in the war in Iraq. What's it like to be in the middle of the action? Well, one soldier is telling her story.

And muscle cars are back. Even cars of the future are cool to see. But that's not what people care about at this auto show. What's hot is hybrid. That and much more straight ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Well, the president could have talked about anything in his radio address today, but he is still working to convince critics that Harriet Miers is the right person to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor at the U.S. Supreme Court. And a lot of those critics are members of the president's own party. CNN's Bob Franken is live at the White House with more.

Bob, what does the president have to do to convince the Republicans?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's interesting about Harriet Miers. She has, for the most part, worked for the president in Washington out of the harsh glare of controversy. Not anymore.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): President Bush certainly expected a fight over his new Supreme Court nominee, but not from his own side. He used his weekly radio address to try and quiet the uproar on the right.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know her character and her judicial philosophy. Harriet Miers will be the type judge I said I would nominate, a good conservative judge.

FRANKEN: Miers has never been a judge, with scant public legal record. She is being nominated to replace Sandra Day O'Connor, a so- called swing vote on the court, which conservatives feel has thwarted key elements of their agenda. They're demanding a known quantity who will fulfill their dream of pushing the high court decisively in their direction.

From many commentators there's been thunder on the right. George Will: "Can This Nomination be Justified?" Charles Krauthammer: "Withdraw This Nominee." Bill Kristol is "Disappointed, Depressed and Demoralized."

Terry Jeffrey, who is the editor of the conservative weekly Human Events, complains Miers has no record.

TERRY JEFFREY, EDITOR, HUMAN EVENTS: I believe that senators should request that the White House withdraw her nomination, and appoint someone who does have that record.

FRANKEN: Miers has been trudging up to Capitol Hill trying to convince senators to do just the opposite, and vote for her confirmation, as the president's choice.

BUSH: Harriet Miers is a remarkable woman and an accomplished attorney. She has wide experience in the courtroom and at the highest levels of government. And she will be an outstanding addition to our nation's highest court.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: Well, that will be up to the senators, but before they give their thumbs up or down, the Republicans among them are going to probably have to make a decision whether they want to antagonize the members of their base, or their president -- Carol.

LIN: Bob Franken, live at the White House, thank you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LIN: Also, something else to worry about in New York, terror threats against New York's subway system. The city on alert, but federal officials, well, they're downplaying the concern. So why the difference in the attitudes when lives are stake? We are going to take a look straight ahead.

And boy, oh, boy, an '80s pop star goof that landed him in jail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Taking a look now at stories across America. Boy George is in trouble again. The former Culture Club singer was arraigned in New York on charges of possessing drugs and filing a false police report. Police say the singer called to say his home was burglarized. Well, police didn't find a burglar, but they say they found cocaine. Boy George was convicted of heroin possession back in 1986. And more bad press for the paparazzi. A photographer has been charged with roughing up some kids to get pictures of actress Reese Witherspoon and her family at a California theme park. The photographer is charged with battering one of the moms and also two Disney employees.

Going, going, gone. A beach resort in Clearwater, Florida is history. The 13-story Adams Mark Hotel was reduced to a 35-foot tall pile of rubble this morning. It was imploded to make room for well, what else, high-rise condominiums. There you go.

Well, should you be worried about riding the nation's rails? Straight ahead, why the federal government's plan to protect us on the railways may actually do more harm than good.

Also, on the front lines in war, women, right there beside the men. How life on the battlefield changed one female soldier.

And new state, new school. New teammate for a young football players forced from his familiar surroundings by Hurricane Katrina, he is just one of the many children of the storm.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: On the "Security Watch," the federal government's railway security plans are incomplete and may do more harm than good. That is the shocking conclusion of a new report by congressional investigators. The report criticizes several government safety measures. One of them requires railways to install bomb-resistant trash cans. Railway groups say the cans would force an explosion upward, possibly causing underground stations to collapse.

Now, new details are emerging also in the possible plot to attack New York City subways. A Department of Homeland Security memo obtained by the Associated Press says a team of terrorist operatives planned to attack the subway with bombs hidden in briefcases, suitcases or baby strollers. The alleged attacks were scheduled to take place on or around tomorrow. Federal authorities are downplaying the threat but nevertheless, security has been stepped up.

And New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg went public with the terrorist threat despite the federal government's doubts over its credibility. And it's not the first time Bloomberg has butted heads with the Bush administration on security issues. But it's creating a sense of confusion over what people should believe.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The drums of the New York City Police Department Band boomed. It is the Columbus Day Parade in the Borough of Queens. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, politicking in an election year, sticking to schedule, trying to act normal at a time when city officials disclosed what they called a credible threat to the city's subway system. The mayor is standing by his decision to warn the public.

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (R), NEW YORK CITY: And if you're going to make a mistake, and I don't think we did. And as a matter of fact, over the last couple of days I'm more convinced we did not, but nevertheless, you want to err on the side of caution.

OPPENHEIM: The mayor's defense is a reaction to questions about mixed messages that some federal agencies had a very different response to the seriousness of the threat.

(on camera): For example, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security said the threat had doubtful credibility. In turn, White House officials backed Homeland Security's desire to keep information about the subway scare private.

BLOOMBERG: Keep in mind, they have their views, what we have to do is make a decision.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): Tensions like this aren't new. Federal and local governments often disagree about security threats. Still, the question becomes, how do mixed messages affect the public?

Douglas Muzzio, a political scientist at Baruch College, says division doesn't help.

DOUGLAS MUZZIO, BARUCH COLLEGE: The problem is that we don't know what to do now, and it's even more confusing. They tell us they're going to blow us up, but you've got to live your life normally. And now the Feds are saying, but they're really not trying to blow you up, and the mayor is saying, yes, they are. I mean, it just adds another level of confusion to all of this, and anxiety for a lot of people.

OPPENHEIM: None of this seems to have done much to stop New Yorkers from taking the trains.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I've got to ride the subway. I've got to ride the subway.

OPPENHEIM: Police are checking bags, and for the most part, residents and commuters are taking the news in stride.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You hear threats all the time, so I'm not going to worry, I'm going to go about my day.

OPPENHEIM: Mayor Bloomberg says for now the heavier security will stay in place until he and the police commissioner decide it's time to back off.

Keith Oppenheim, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Be sure to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security. Now, here's a look at what's happening right now in the news. In southern Asia, the death toll from that massive earthquake continues to climb and aftershocks keep coming. At least 1,300 people, we have confirmed, are dead. The quake was centered about 60 miles from Islamabad near the disputed region of Kashmir.

And in Ukraine, 360 kindergarten students are hospitalized with suspected food poisoning, four are now in critical condition. It looks like a popular drink made out of fermented milk is to blame.

Indonesian officials dropped photo leaflets from a helicopter as they search for two suspects in last week's Bali bombings. They dropped the photos near a town where one of the suspects was spotted. 23 people died in last week's attacks at three tourist cafes.

Iraq said today it will seal its borders for the big referendum a week from today. With the country beset by violence, Iraqis will vote on a draft constitution opposed by the Sunni minority at the center of the deadly insurgency.

Now, according to the plan announced by the interim government, a nighttime curfew is to take effect Thursday, followed Friday by the closure of borders and a ban on travel between the provinces. The government says Iraqis will handle the security, not coalition forces.

And in Baghdad today, at least three bombs exploded. An Iraqi policeman and seven others died in a suicide attack that also wounded 16 people. There were two reported roadside bombings that wounded a total of five, including four Iraqi soldiers.

And now, the military says two more American marines have died in Iraq. They were killed on Friday in offensive operations against insurgents in the west of the country. American troop deaths in Iraq now number 1,955.

Well, America's mission in Afghanistan has sustained another death as well. The military says a U.S. soldier stepped on a land mine and died on Friday, bringing the number of U.S. deaths in that country to 244. The death occurred on the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion which removed Afghanistan's Taliban government. 84 Americans have died this year in Afghanistan, making 2005 the deadliest year yet for the U.S. mission.

Which is why every week we like to bring you the more personal stories from the front lines. Tonight a young female soldier recounts her experiences. Kayla Williams faced death daily in Iraq and she writes about it in her book, "Love My Rifle More Than You." And Kayla Williams is now joining me from Washington to talk about what it was like.

Hi, Kayla. Good to have you.

KAYLA WILLIAMS, AUTHOR, LOVE MY RIFLE MORE THAN YOU: Hi. Thank you.

LIN: Hey, what is with the book title? Was does that mean, love my rifle more than you? Who are you talking to?

WILLIAMS: It's from an Army cadence, actually. It's from a marching cadence that has other lines like, used to wear my faded jeans, now I'm wearing Army greens.

LIN: Well, you got our attention. Why did you join the military? Why did you want to actually fight on the front lines in a war?

WILLIAMS: Well, I did join in 2000. So before 9/11, and although, of course, I knew that going to war was a possibility, at the time it seemed like a very remote possibility. I joined for the educational benefits and to learn a foreign language for free. The Army paid me to learn Arabic and because it was a way for me to really challenge myself and improve my life while giving something back to the community.

LIN: Did you find that that's what you did in your year in Iraq, would you say?

WILLIAMS: There were times that I definitely felt like I was making a very positive difference. I got to see repressed minorities making pilgrimages to shrines that had been forbidden to them for a generation and children going back to school that had been forbidden school in certain areas for a long time.

These were incredibly rewarding experiences. But I also saw a population that was very frustrated by some of our methods and although they desperately longed for freedom and democracy, they didn't necessarily want it at the end of a gun.

LIN: Well, and you did see a lot. I mean, you actually say that you saw American soldiers cross the line between interrogation all the way to torture. What did you see, beyond -- and this is beyond -- what was reported in Abu Ghraib, right?

WILLIAMS: Right. I wasn't at Abu Ghraib ever. This was in Mosul, and I was asked as a female who spoke Arabic to participate in an interrogation. I foolishly thought that might be to be culturally sensitive, that maybe there would be a woman that they needed me to translate for. Interrogation was not my job.

I was wrong. I was told they wanted me to just sit in a room. They would bring in a male prisoner handcuffed with a blindfold on and then they would remove his clothing, then remove his blindfold, and we were then to mock him in hopes that he would break and give up intelligence information.

I was really horrified. This didn't seem like something that...

LIN: Did you protest?

WILLIAMS: I sat through it at the time. But after it was over I did approach the non-commissioned officer in charge and told him I think you may be violating the Geneva Conventions. And even if you're not, you're turning anyone who might be innocent into a terrorist by the time they leave.

LIN: What was the reaction?

WILLIAMS: He said he knew and I said I wouldn't participate again and he respected that, but I was really, really stunned and struggled a lot with whether or not I should do anything about it because I don't know whether or not it's appropriate technique. I've never read the field manual on interrogations.

And luckily before I felt forced to make a decision the military did learn that there was a problem and the Army moved very quickly to put other people in charge and take care of it. So it's good to see that the system did work. They took care of a bad situation.

LIN: So were you expecting to see more court-martials, then?

WILLIAMS: No, they were never able to find proof about what happened because these soldiers were at least smart enough not to take pictures. So there's no way that they can charge anyone. But at least they did take care of it.

LIN: Kayla, undeniably, you're a woman. What was it like to be out there shoulder to shoulder with the men? Did you treat you as an equal or did you ever find yourself the object of sexual harassment?

WILLIAMS: Both. When I was in Baghdad going out on foot patrols with the infantry to translate for them, I was always treated with utmost professionalism and respect because they could see me doing my job and see that I was an asset to the mission.

Later, when we'd been there for more than six months and we were in a safer environment and there was of down time, the pressure was getting to people, the loneliness was getting to people, and because there was so much time between missions, then it got a little worse and there were times that definitely I was very frustrated at the way that some of the male soldiers could treat me.

Also, one of the things that was most frustrating about being a woman, when women are only 15 percent of the Army, is being treated as a representative of all others like you. And that just gets incredibly draining to know that a mistake that you make isn't just yours but all other women will be held equally accountable. So that's frustrating.

LIN: Kayla, great to talk with you, a brave woman indeed and now an author. "I Love My Gun More Than You." Great title. Kayla Williams, thank you so much.

WILLIAMS: Have a nice day. Thank you.

LIN: While surveying the damage in New Orleans, another former president gets a look and talks to the victims.

Also, the military hospital ship is pulling up anchor and leaving the Gulf Coast. So where will folks get medical attention? And a Friday night ritual for one football player in an unfamiliar place. How Katrina has changed his life, at least for the moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Former President Bush toured parts of the Gulf Coast today in his capacity as a leader of the fundraising effort to help rebuild the region. He said that even after the coverage of Hurricane Katrina he was shocked to see firsthand the damage done to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

The Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund has raised more than $100 million so far. The two ex-presidents have not yet decided where the money should go.

Now, the U.S. military hospital ship, the U.S.S. Comfort, is leaving Port of New Orleans to return to its base in Baltimore. The ship was sent to the Gulf on August 31st as part of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina. The U.S. Air Force will construct a makeshift hospital at New Orleans Charity Hospital, one of the city's main medical facilities, which was recently declared unsalvageable.

And the death toll from Katrina has risen past 1,000 in the hardest-hit state of Louisiana. Nearly six weeks later the storm is blamed for 1,239 deaths across the swath of five states. Katrina is America's second deadliest hurricane of all time, behind the unnamed storm that hit Florida in 1928.

Now, many schools in Katrina's direct path won't be open for some time, and certainly not for the football season now under way. So for the players, the storm cast their plan, maybe even their dreams, to the wind.

CNN's Jonathan Mann introduces us to one player who's measuring his return to normalcy in a game of inches.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN MANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a Friday night ritual played out in hometowns and communities across America. The sights and sounds of high school football.

J.C. BRIGNONE, FOOTBALL PLAYER: It's my sport. It's my life.

MANN: J.C. Brignone is 17 years old. He's a high school senior. Football is his passion.

J.C. BRIGNONE: When you're telling me, you say you're talking about football, I got to be in the middle of it. You know, that's what I like to do.

LEE BRIGNONE, J.C. BRIGNONE'S MOTHER: I think if he had a choice, honestly, in breathing and playing football, he would play football.

MANN: But this season, football is more than a game for J.C. It's an escape.

J.C. BRIGNONE: I just go out and play football. My mind clears out. I go knock somebody's head off. I do come out here in the dirt. It's good for me. It gets me out of the sad situation.

MANN: You see, J.C. isn't supposed to be here playing on a field in suburban Atlanta. He's supposed to be here, 400 miles away in Mississippi, wearing the red and black of the St. Stanislaus Rockachaws, playing with his best friends, his senior class teammates.

J.C. BRIGNONE: Everything we do is with each other. All football guys stuck together. That's how it was every season.

MANN: J.C.'s team won its first game this season, three days before Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore. J.C., his father, Julio, and his mother, Lee (ph), evacuated before the storm hit.

J.C. BRIGNONE: I got three pairs of clothes, my dog and my truck. That's it.

MANN: The family's home in Pass Christian was destroyed.

MR. BIGNONE, J.C. BIGNONE'S FATHER: It looked like our belongings everywhere. I don't see no pieces of my house at all.

MANN: J.C.'s school, an all-boys Catholic academy located right on the water in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi, also suffered extensive damage. It's 36 football players, many of whom lost their homes, scattered. The Rockachaw's football season was canceled.

J.C. BIGNONE: We're the only team in this city like this. Every other team's back together. We're the only school that can't. We just don't have anything left.

MANN: J.C.'s family relocated to suburban Atlanta, where they have friends. He now plays for Parkview, a football powerhouse that has won four Georgia state championships in the last eight years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go, J.C., get him, set.

MANN: However, attending a new school has been an adjustment.

LEE BIGNONE: I think he hasn't quite let anybody in, as far as friends go. I think he almost feels like he would be betraying his friends.

CECIL FLOWE, FOOTBALL COACH, PARKVIEW HIGH SCHOOL: When the day would come and he'd have a down day in the school building, but when football practice would come, man, he just straps those pads on then it's all football. And that's sort of a release for him and he's just all football. He's not thinking about problems, he's not thinking about being homesick. He's out there playing because he loves the game.

MANN: Comfort also comes calls to teammates spread around the country, friends who should be together. J.C. BIGNONE: Yeah, everybody keeps in touch. That's what helps me get through and I know that's what helps them get through, too. You know, it's the hardest part. Losing my friends is worse than losing my house. That's all I had.

MRS. BIGNONE: I know, you know, you can see, it's just a little piece of him that was taken away. I don't know if I'll be able to give him that back. Not me, not his dad. Not anyone.

MANN: J.C.'s future is bright. He has a 3.2 GPA and a football scholarship waiting for him at Mississippi State where he'll study civil engineering. His old school, St. Stanislaus, is scheduled to reopen November 1st. J.C. says he's going back to graduate.

J.C. BIGNONE: I've been waiting six years to walk that graduate line and I want to be there when all my friends graduate and I want them to be there when I graduate, and I'm not missing my graduation.

MANN: But for now, the rituals of fall Friday nights for J.C. take place in Georgia, even if his heart is 400 miles away.

J.C. BIGNONE: Down deep on the inside we're always going to be rock close. I play for the Panthers but I'm always going to be a Rockachaw. That will never change.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: We're rooting for you.

All right, you can see more on Katrina's widespread impact and its emotional toll in "CNN PRESENTS: CHILDREN OF THE STORM." That premieres a little more than an hour from now at 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific.

Now we all have our fears of flying, darkness or height. But can you actually overcome those fears? Up next on CNN LIVE SATURDAY, making your brain work for you instead of against you. The author of a new book tells us how.

But first, Andrea Koppel with a look at what's coming up at the top of the hour on "ON THE STORY."

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: CNN is on the story at the George Washington University. Our correspondents have the inside word on what they're covering. David Ensor talks about the terror threat in New York and that city's own intelligence operation. Candy Crowley is on the story of avian flu. Are the feds ready for that disaster? Lisa Sylvester is on the story in New Orleans and Dana Bash and Delia Gallagher talk about the Supreme Court and religion and politics. That's all coming up, all "ON THE STORY."

LIN: In our fountain of youth segment tonight, keying in to your brain power. One author says it can raise your potential for self- improvement and success. You can grow your own happiness. The book, "Reality Check: What Your Mind Knows But Isn't Telling You," looks at the chemistry of positive thinking. Author David Weiner is in Chicago right now. David, it sounds like your premise is that we are emotionally wired in our brains the same way our house is wired for electricity. Explain that.

DAVID WEINER, AUTHOR, REALITY CHECK: Well, it's true. It turns out that our minds are entirely physical, biological. A lot of people don't really understand it or know that, but not only our thoughts are hard wire in our brain but our emotions as well. So they're like neuro-DVDs. They click in and click out as the situation occurs.

LIN: So are you saying that you can actually help grow parts of your brain in order to get better emotional responses, be happier?

WEINER: Well, what neuroscience has found in the last 20 years is that the brain is a lot more plastic than they ever thought it was. You could actually work to wire it. And they've actually done experiments with higher animals -- and by the way, the brain is the same for us as it is for a mouse or a pigeon; the neurons are the same -- and they found is when they take these animals out of caged environments and put them into rich environments where there's toys and things to do they actually grow more connections. And connections are the key in the brain in terms of capability.

LIN: These neuroconnections. But doesn't that stop after a certain age, or can you do this for a lifetime?

WEINER: No, you can you do it for a lifetime. I do it. I'm no spring chicken but I keep working at it.

LIN: All right, so for example, if you're strapped at work because your boss is on you, or you think your wife is cheating on you, how do you deal with that kind of stress? And how do you create a different kind of happiness?

WEINER: Well, there's actually two organs in the brain. One's called the amygdala. It mediates fear. Another's called the stria terminalis and that mediates anxiety. And these are called by psychologists the "burglar alarm system" of the brain, and often it'll give off false alarms.

These systems were developed when we were living in caves. The brain hasn't changed in 500,000 years. So we have to really retrain these organs for 21st century living and we have to be able to see that what our emotions are giving us are irrational and then work around it.

LIN: All right, and bottom line, how did you do it?

WEINER: The biggest thing is to repeat, if you're in some kind of skill, is to repeat the skill and be repetitive about it and keep working at it until you can work under pressure and it's automatic, almost like a relief pitcher in baseball.

LIN: All right, so if a husband is thinking his wife is cheating on him and he's saying, OK, my wife's not cheating on me, my wife's not cheating on me. Is that going to help? Is that what you're talking about?

WEINER: I'm saying if she's not cheating on you but you think she is because she's in a conversation with somebody across the room, that could be an irrational thought. If she's cheating on you, you're in trouble.

LIN: How do you exercise your brain, then, other ways?

WEINER: If you're in athletics, if you're a golfer you take 500 golf swings a day, they talk about that. For some people it'll help you a little bit, for some people it'll help you a lot. And for some people it will make you a master at what you do. The point is if you don't do it you're not in the game at all. You've got to keep exercising your brain and strain your mind.

LIN: All right. Sounds like a twist on positive thinking, doctor.

WEINER: A little bit.

LIN: Thanks very much, David Weiner.

The latest plan to try to curb high gas prices but not everyone is liking it. So that's straight ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

Meantime, car companies, doing what they can to get your business during these painful days at the pump. Straight ahead, the new offerings in the ways of fuel efficiency.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Well, the Democrats are criticizing a new energy bill to help U.S. oil refineries. The measure would encourage oil companies to open new refineries by providing billions of dollars in tax breaks and eliminating some environmental requirements. It squeaked through the house Friday and is now heading to the U.S. Senate.

But Democrats and Republican moderates say the bill would do nothing to ease energy costs. Many in Congress say it's time to adopt a new energy strategy requiring stricter fuel efficiency standards for vehicles. Skyrocketing gas prices certainly have the public looking for cars with better mileage and it's having an impact on what is considered to be the hot trend at the California International Car Show.

So here's our Peter Viles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the old days, when gas was cheap, you'd go to a car show to check out the fantasy cars or something over the top. Well, the old days are over, which is why people like Tom Knowell (ph) are checking out hybrids.

TOM KNOWELL (ph): Oh, yeah. This is me. This is it.

VILES: Also shopping for a hybrid, Leandra Sarton.

LEANDRA SARTON: Gas is over $3 a gallon and the car I drive now drinks gas. It costs me over $40 to fill a tank that's 14.5 gallons. And it's just too much. I can't afford it.

VILES: The California International Auto Show is the first of the 2006 model year and usually a bellwether. No question, the hot trend this year is hybrids.

TODD LEUTHEUSER, CALIFORNIA INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW: I think the customer has changed. Three to four years ago, it was the environmentally conscious personalities that were going to buy it to make a statement. Today we're seeing a lot of families get in there for fuel economy and because they're fun to drive.

VILES: Fuel economy has never been sexier. Honda says its Insight gets up to 66 miles to the gallon in city traffic. Toyota reports the Prius gets up to 60 and Ford says the hybrid version of its Escape does up to 36. And Toyota's trying to prove that hybrids can be powerful, too, with the new Highlander.

CINDY KNIGHT, TOYOTA: The people who think hybrids small or underpowered or don't have the utility of a regular vehicle, we're out to prove them wrong, because the Highlander is a rocket and very roomy. It seats seven and it's fun to drive.

VILES: Now if you like the feel of the hybrid engine you'd probably like this very limited edition Honda that runs on hydrogen.

SAM ATWOOD, CALIFORNIA AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT: It's got a very peppy acceleration from the starting line. A very high-end torque when you start off. And it's very smooth and pretty quiet.

VILES: We took it out for a test drive and we took it very slow because this demonstration model is one of the most expensive compact cars ever made. Estimated cost: $1.5 million.

Peter Viles for CNN, Anaheim, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Come on, who's going to pay that for a hybrid?

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